Annotated "History of the West" - The History of the Kingdom of The ...

The Origin and History of the Society for Creative Anachronism and the Kingdom of the West
C “This event saw several “firsts” in the SCA:
“1) Henrik wore the first real armour, his new 10,000 ring mail hauberk which he had started in the months after the second
tournament on June 25, 1966 and a portion of which he had been wearing when he won the Sept. 25, 1966 tourney.”
“2) Henrik borrowed a horse and rode with couched steel tipped lance, steel spangenhelm, steel hauberk, steel sword and
steel round shield – the inspiration for the cover portrait by Diana Listmaker on TI #1. (Note - Henrik made the armour and his sword
and shield.)” – Henrik of Havn
1 “And the cry went up ‘Get Henrik off that horse and on the throne so the tournament can get started!’”
“Speaking of mounted royalty, I should mention here that, during the Summer Tournament, when Richard and Diana were
presiding at Mills College, we had the first “Mounted Coronation.” Richard, at the time, was getting around on a BMW touring
bike and Diana had a motor scooter, so they intended to ride mounted to the thrones. We all lined up and waited, and waited,
and waited. None of us knew why we were waiting because it was supposed to be a surprise.
“Diana’s scooter was named ‘Chrysofalax The Recalcitrant’ and chose that time to live up to its name. We were finally
rewarded by the entrance of our royalty on their iron steeds.” – Stefan de Lorraine
I “Spelling: Chrysophylax? Meaning: ‘Gold-keeper.’ A word referring to Gryphons.” – Karina of the Far West
1 “I think this was the first tourney in which we had a formal ‘Eric’. Edwin erected a fence of poles with a rope to enclose the
fighting, much like what I saw at the last couple of tournies I attended, many years later and many years ago. As you might
expect, it was not called the ‘Eric’ because it was not red. And if that name has been lost in antiquity, I’ll be glad to expound in
it later.” – Stefan de Lorraine
C “3) The first real Pavilion - Henrik’s, a round pavilion 12' tall and 10' in diameter at the base and 6' wide in diameter where the
conical roof met the sloping sidewall. The fabric was undyed (at that time) sheets sewn together.”
“4) The first crown – black iron band with 4 silver plated maltese crosses. Iron for strength, silver for noble purity. Fulk designed
it, Henrik made it.” – Henrik of Havn
1 “And now a question for Henrik: Was that 1st iron crown with silver crosses your personal property, and not passed on to a
successor? If so, were the crowns that Master Beverly made (and that you and Siegfried carried on cushions at the very front
of the 11-kingdom procession at 20 Year) the first to belong to the Kingdom and to be passed along?” – Robert of Dunharrow
I “Yes, it is my personal crown and no other person has worn it at court except Fulk who wore it before I was crowned with
it at the March 1967 Tourney. Yes, they were the 1 st Kingdom owned crowns, but I continued to be crowned exclusively with
my own Crown during succeeding reigns. The procedure was, I would approach the King, he would remove the copper
Crown from his head and place it on a cushion or some such held by an appropriate person – Kingdom Herald usually
and then my crown bearer would proffer my crown on a cushion and the departing monarch would pick up my crown and
crown me.” – Henrik of Havn
a “This, as many of the commentators will confirm, was common practice until the presentation of the current silver
crowns by Duke Henrik years later.
“Most new royalty had custom crowns made, often of more precious materials and custom-fitted to their heads
to wear instead of the ancient and honorable crowns. On some occasions the ancient crowns were used for the
coronation ceremony proper and the personal crowns were worn at all other times until the next coronation. (Some
personal crowns occasioned quite a bit of gossip and commentary on the personal tastes of either the royals or the
jeweler in question.)” – Kevin Peregrynne
D “That was a good event. It was held at Tilden Park and had a moderate walk from the parking to the field. Dr. Elizabeth Pope, who
had presided over the first event was there and I remember helping her walk back to her car when she had to leave, which was fun
because she was an interesting lady and her student aide, who was there with her was a good looking young blond lady whom
I had fought for that day. On the other hand, that was the event, as I recall, where I fought Richard in the semifinals and he flat
refused to wear a face mask, fighting only in his motorcycle helmet against me. I was furious, taking it as a personal insult, which
I nursed for several years while off in the air force and only forgave him somewhere in the mid-70s. Mind you, I’ve long forgiven him,
I understand his reasoning. And I still think he was absolutely dead wrong.” – Steven MacEanruig
C “[Tilden Park] at the Amphitheater Playfield as it was called then by the park authorities.” – Henrik of Havn
1 “This is in the wrong place. The Amphitheater is not the Airplane Field. I think the tourney I was referring to here was perhaps
in year II (early) or even Year III. I think it was the one that Caradoc won, but it may have been the earlier one in which Richard
beat me in the finals.” – Stefan de Lorraine, who curses a failing memory that cannot recall just when this happened, but does
remember the difference between the amphitheater and the airplane field...
I “FYI unless I am mis-remembering (it's been years since I last played around in Tilden Park) it is easy for the Airplane field
and the Amphitheater Playfield to be confused in recollection. Both of them are in the same general area in the park (near
the old pony ride site) and share parking areas and privies.
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